1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power converters, and more particularly, a half-bridge power converter system and a method of operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bridge power converter is an insulation-type converter and is commonly used in a middle-sized to large-sized power module. A bridge power converter can be classified as a half-bridge power converter or a full-bridge power converter depending on the number of switches and the location of the switches.
A conventional half-bridge converter includes a high voltage or high-side switch, which is turned on and off according to a pulse width modulation (PWM)-based control method. However, when the high-side switch is turned on for a relatively long period of time, several problems may occur. For instance, when a half-bridge converter is used in a resonance-type power converter, the resonant capacitor may be fully discharged and/or the transformer of the converter may go into saturation. In addition, power is consumed in the high-side switch (which is inefficient) and the switch may be damaged.